VB2017 preview: Calling all PUA fighters

Posted by Martijn Grooten on Aug 31, 2017

While a lot of attention is focused on the fight against advanced malware, a different kind of threat is providing just as big a headache for security companies: that of apps (often free ones) whose behaviours sit right on the limits of what is acceptable from a security point of view. The "better safe than sorry" approach preferred by security vendors usually doesn't align with the views of their customers – or those of the often powerful lawyers employed by the vendors of some of these apps.

Last year, industry veteran Dennis Batchelder set up AppEsteem to take an interesting and pragmatic approach to this issue. Rather than come up with even more complicated ways of blocking potentially unwanted apps, he is working with the app developers and distributors themselves, to ensure they stay within the limits of what is acceptable from a security point of view. AppEsteem then provides feeds and services to security vendors, to help them avoid blocking such apps – while at the same time, making it easier to block those that do engage in malicious or deceptive behaviour.

We have asked Dennis to give a Small Talk at VB2017 to discuss how this works, and to explain how security vendors and testers can make use of AppEsteem's services.

Don't forget to register for VB2017 to learn about the latest threats, how to fight them and how to collaborate with others in the industry.

Thousands of websites, including many sites of government organisations in the UK, the US and Sweden, were recently found to have been serving a cryptocurrency miner. More interesting than the incident itself, though, are the lessons that can be…

Users of the popular WordPress content management system are urged to manually update their installation to version 4.9.4, as a bug in the previous version broke the ability to automatically install updates.